River Forest, Ill. – Dominican University Men's Volleyball returns from California with a 1-2 record and gears up for their home opener against North Park University on Friday night.
Series History vs. North Park:
Dominican and North Park first played in 2019 in River Forest, IL (W, 3-0)
All-Time Record / Streak: 3-0 / Dominican W3
Last Meeting (2/13/2024): Dominican 3, North Park 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-19)
Record in Home Matches vs. North Park: 2-0
DU in Review:
-Dominican began the 2025 season with three matches in Santa Cruz, California as part of the Slug Fest Tournament
-The Slug Fest Tournament marked the first time the Stars have traveled to the state of California since 2019, where they would drop a pair of matches to the University of California, Merced, and the University of California, Santa Cruz.
-The 2025 season marks the 2nd season with Head Coach Doug Burchett at the helm. The Stars finished the 2024 season with a record of 19-8 and were 11-1 in conference.
-DU heads into the 2025 season looking to defend their 2024 NACC Regular Season and Tournament titles.
Last Time Out:
-The Stars went 1-1 on Saturday, January 18th, defeating New Paltz 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 25-11) then dropped a tough match against California Lutheran 2-3 (25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 17-25, 11-15)
-Senior Casey Goss led DU in kills in both matches, tallying 16 against New Paltz and 21 against Cal Lutheran.
-Freshman Kendall Esparza and Freshman Landon Kassulke made their collegiate debuts in the win against New Paltz.
Familiar Faces:
-Dominican has five of their top six kill leaders returning from the 2024 season, with Senior Casey Goss leading the way with 349 total kills, equaling 3.60 kills per set.
-Goss was awarded NACC Player of the Year honors in 2024 and was also an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, AVCA All-West Regional Team, and NACC First Team All-Conference recipient. Goss led the Stars in kills, aces, digs, and sets played while being 3rd in total blocks.
-Junior Michael Greco and Senior Jason Kougan resume their roles as the Stars' pair at middle Blocker. Greco paced Dominican in 2024 with 85 blocks, followed by Kougan's 83.
- Senior Owen Morrow returns as DU's setter. Morrow was able to tally 918 assists in the 2024 campaign and started all in all of Dominican's 27 matches.
Scouting Report vs. North Park:
-North Park enters Friday's contest with a 2-1 record, defeating NACC opponents Concordia University Wisconsin 3-1 and Concordia University Chicago 3-1.
-North Park currently boasts a 2-0 record on the road.
-The Vikings went 8-20 during the 2024 season, including a 1-9 record in away matches.
